Godai
by Nekoi Kurona
Summary: This is really FemLuffy Story with its title changed. Story starts with Luffy about to meet Shanks. Story is probably better than the summary so just read it.
1. Don't eat random things off the ground

**Ch.1: Don't eat random things off the ground.**

"Jii-chan! Jii-chan! Where are you? Don't leave me here alone!"

A little girl rushed past the bushes and trees. It was a dark, ominous night with no moon to be seen in the sky. The forest around her merged with the shadows to take on the appearance of monsters and other such demonic beings. She desperately ran away from them, searching for any hint of her grandfather who threw her in there. No such trace of the man, who was so stupid and annoying, but what she needed more than anything in such a scary place like this. Breaking apart the curtain of creepers, she discovered a small clearing with candlebud-like flowers. They emitted iridescent purple light that shimmered in the darkness.

Tranced by the light, she walked forward and soaked herself in the warmth of the light. But as she inched closer, a black silhouette flashed and attacked her. Immediately, she screamed and backed away, tripping over a small rock. Now on her butt, she stared up at the drooling mouth filled with sharp, bloody teeth. She stiffened and froze in fear. The beast mockingly howled with laughter and licked its mouth. The girl cursed her grandfather for being the main cause of her demise, but smiled lightly because her hellish 'trainings' will end. With that, she accepted the death and waited for the beast to…

Wait. Was that food she saw over there?

Suddenly, her stomach rumbled and she reached out for the fruit. Since she was going to die, she might as well die doing her favorite thing: eating. Tentatively, she studied and fingered the wave like swirls across the serpent-like fruit. A mysterious aura covered its ocean blue skin—

Nom. And after a few seconds, she started choking at the immensely bad taste. Disgusting thing! Her last meal was going to be something so horrible? No, it wasn't! Her last meal was going to be a salad made with _real_ fruit that actually tasted edible and good!

With that in mind, she headbutted the chin of the beast and broke its jaw. The poor thing fell backwards on to the ground, releasing its grip on the girl. She stood up and stared at it, realizing that it was just some oversized wolf and nothing special. The night must be muddling her mind. Now, with the goal of kicking her grandfather and eating salad in her head, she calmly walked through the forest. Nothing was going to mess with her anymore.

_Two Years Later_

A man with red hair twirled a dusty, old straw hat around his fingers. He wistfully stared ahead towards East Blue, thinking about his old captain. A stoic-looking man walked besides him, sharing the view…

When suddenly, the red-haired man stood up and roughly placed his hat on his head,

"I got a great idea!" The stoic man jumped at the sudden action and raised a brow. His captain grinned,

"Let's go to East Blue!"


	2. Speak of the devil it always works

**Ch.2: Speak of the devil; it always works.**

Tilting dangerously over the railing, Shanks sighed at the lack of action. They had been to about ten islands in East Blue already and nothing happened.

No daily chases from idealistic marines or attacks from ambitious pirates. No wild animals that can destroy a city with a swipe of its paws. No weather that will cause lightning to rain down continuously from the sky or gales that will blow the ship at least fifty miles away from the set course. No anything.

It was fucking peaceful. The villagers on those islands didn't even care about one of the world's dangerous crews docking at their harbor. Like for Oda's sake, they were the Yonkou! They had billions of Beris on their head!

Benn sat near the frustrated man. He puffed out a smoke before saying,

"Well, this is East Blue. The weakest of the seas." Lazily, Shanks tilted his head towards his first mate,

"Yet, the pirate king was born in this part of the ocean. Shouldn't there be a limit to peace? It feels so damn off."

"Then should we head back?"

"…Nah. Let's stay here a bit longer."

"Aye, aye captain—"

"There's an island just up ahead!" Shanks's ears perked up at the words and he grinned,

"Alright, boys, let's go find some adventure!"

"Roger!" The crew worked together to sail the ship into the dock and walked down. The villagers looked up, but casually went back to work. In unison, the crew sweat-dropped at the lack of reaction, but immediately set out to find a tavern. Which they did a few seconds later. Together, they walked in and saw a completely unexpected sight.

A little girl was eating enough food to last for weeks. A large mountain of empty plates stacked up besides her. And strangely enough, she ate with manners so that it wasn't repulsive to watch her quickly consume the large amount of food. And even more strange was that she was extremely slender. And what was most strange was that the bartender seemed used to the sight as she wasn't stressed out from cooking that much. All of the crew gawked at the sight as they filled the tavern and started ordering drinks. Shanks, Benn, Yasopp, and Lucky sat near the girl.

"Gouchisousama~! I love you, Makino!"

"Glad that you liked it. Are you going into the forest again?"

"Yup~ I need to train before Jii-chan comes back. One day, I'm going to kick his ass!"

"Language, Luffy. Be careful, then."

"See ya later then!"

Luffy hopped off the stool and speedily dashed away, amazing all the pirates that one so young could run so fast. Ben whistled at her potential; he could tell by the way she carried herself that she was strong and had a good sense of balance. He turned to his captain to see his reaction and noticed that he was gone. He silently chuckled. So she caught his attention too. Interesting…


	3. Strangers are just friends not met yet

**Ch.3: Strangers are just friends in the waiting.**

Whistling, Luffy deftly ran past the overly large plants and took out any animals that had the misfortune of being in her way. Finally, she stopped at a large clearing and began to practice when…

"Boo."

She jumped at the sudden noise and twisted around, twin daggers ready. But she stopped herself from slicing him when she saw his hands up in submission. Calmly, she relaxed her tense muscles and sheathed her weapons,

"Who are you, mister?" Shanks's eye twitched,

"Hey, don't call me mister! I'm not that old!"

"Isn't that what all old men say?" Shanks opened his mouth to retort, but couldn't find a good counterargument for that. It was kinda true… But he was not old!

"Anyways, I'm Shanks and I am only 27 years old!"

"Then, you're old."

"How am I old?"

"Just because."

"That's not a valid reason!"

"But it's a reason."

"…" Luffy looked up, amused at the flustered man who was about to pull his hair out. She saved him from doing so, though.

"I'm Luffy. So did you follow me here?"

"Eh?"

"No one knows about this place." She sat down comfortably; he followed after,

"Why not?"

"Because the animals here are big and dangerous." On cue, a one-eyed tiger appeared with a dead crocodile, fives time bigger than them, in its mouth. It passed by them and left, deeming them insignificant and not worth eating. Shanks blinked at the sight,

"Eh? I thought that East Blue was the weakest of the seas." She shrugged,

"Marines spread that rumor. In East Blue, there are five islands that act like the Grand Line. I can give you a tour later if you want."

"Nah, I'll find them by myself! That's what adventure is all about~" Shanks grinned excitedly, happy that there were places in East Blue that were fun. Then, he remembered something that she had said,

"So why do marines say that East Blue is weak?"

"To discourage pirates-in-the-making."

"Ah. Marines are such an ass." She burst into giggles,

"Yeah, that they are."

Connected by that one thought, the two felt like they were going to be best friends and began telling each other about fun adventures and stories about their life. Soon, without them realizing, time passed by quickly and it was already night. Together, they walked towards the Party Bar tavern. Makino and the crew welcomed them; many cooked dishes sat on the counter waiting to be eaten by Luffy. Which she attended to while Shanks sat near Benn.

"I was right; even East Blue has its share of adventures~" Benn raised a brow and Yasopp looked up,

"Really? I lived in East Blue and it's always peaceful."

"Well, there are these five islands that sound like fun. We should go check them out."

"Where?" Luffy lifted her head up from her meal and drew a map quickly on the piece of paper. Once she finished, she handed it to them,

"Here."


	4. Salad is good for the body

**Ch.4: Salad is good for the body.**

"Oh Oda, that was sooo cool! Screw Grand Line; that was like New World! That furious storm that surrounded the big island… The many carnivorous man-eating plants… The sea kings that lived in the vicinity… The heavy rain… And how it was so worth traveling up that mountain to see the clouds temporarily part and form rainbows around the island and the ocean sparkling more than before because of the fish! That was perfect; I missed all that excitement~"

Shanks sat near Luffy in the Party Bar, savoring the thrill from exploring the place. Nearby, all the pirates sat near him, wondering how the hell they managed to survive that one and chattering amongst themselves what the other four could possibly be like. Benn smirked; Lucky ate; Yasopp told stories to the villagers and other customers in Makino's bar. He looked back at Luffy after a while,

"But how the hell did you find out about those islands? I lived in East Blue for half of my life and never knew a thing about them!" Luffy stabbed a baby tomato and gobbled it up,

"Jii-chan's a marine so I know about stuff like that."

"Ho? What rank?"

"Vice-admiral."

"Ah, is that so… WAIT! VICE-ADMIRAL?" Every pirate stared at the little girl, who continued eating normally,

"Yup, his name's Garp. Monkey D. Garp."

"…" Shanks stared at her seriously; after thinking about it, he realized that it must be true. And it made sense too. Luffy was the strongest little girl that he ever knew… Knowledgeable too; she was the one who told them about the islands and hotspots on them…

"Your grandpa's a jerk." He just had to say it. He prepared for a strike or slap from the girl for insulting her family, but instead earned a laugh,

"That he is. I don't know how I can even put up with him sometimes. I should run away from home."

"Eh? Then why don't you?" She scrunched up her face and Shanks decided that he didn't like to see her like that. Luffy was meant to be smiling all the time like she always did. After a bit of hesitation, she replied,

"…'Cause he's family. And I can't really abandon him when he's already been ditched by the others. That's too lonely…"

"…" Honestly, he didn't know how to respond to that level of seriousness…

"But the real reason why I can't stand him is his love for meat! As a vegetarian, I don't understand how I can tolerate his vulgar eating! It seriously ticks me off sometimes!"

There was a mixture of sounds—face-palm, face-fault, sweat-drop, and dead-pan—that echoed in the air. _That_ is why you hate him? Lucky looked at Luffy like a kicked dog,

"So you don't like me?" She immediately softened,

"Nah, I like you… And though I don't like innocent animals being killed for food, I respect other people's decisions… But that guy eats like a pig!"


	5. Everything is for a reason

**Ch.5: Never regret. Everything is for a reason.**

She swerved through the barrage of attacks easily and glared at the tiger, who glared back with its one eye.

The beautiful, serene clearing was destroyed and as if to add hate on to hate, there were dead corpses in the center of the wrecked place. Both of them knew that for the sake of honor and those who left to the otherworld, this was a fight that they couldn't relinquish.

Throughout the many years, they had tolerated each other's presence and allowed each other's existence. But that stops now.

For the tiger, it was a fight of revenge, for the two young kittens that died due to some stupid poachers. Only the death of many two-legged-creatures could appease it.

For the girl, it was a fight to protect. She didn't care about poachers; that was their fault. Common sense should have warned them of the consequences of attacking the kittens. And common sense should have got them running the moment they saw territorial marks in the forest. No, she was not fighting for the poachers; in fact, she could sympathize with the tiger's rage. If her loved ones died like that, then she would have angrily cursed the heavens above and kill all those in the path of her carnage.

No, she was definitely not fighting for those dumb men. She was fighting to protect Fuusha village and the innocents who had nothing to do with this mess. The tiger was set out to kill any human it found; it was trapped in its blind rage that it could not see anything except for blood.

She had to stop it. End its life or let it destroy her home. The decision was obvious, but it was hard to decide to end the tiger's life. Especially one she knew so well…

But it was fighting for revenge; she was fighting to protect. And since the rock already rolled down the hill, they couldn't drop the fight for the sake of their pride. A fight started could not be stopped until the end, the very end where one of them falls. Especially for one like this…

_Crack._

Reflexively, the cat snapped its attention to the bushes. In that moment, Luffy stabbed it in the chest and pierced its heart.

Her eyes filled with sorrow, but not regret. Never regret.

She watched as the tiger crashed on to the ground near the kittens. She gazed straight at the tiger, who stared at her for a long time before finally drawing its last breath and passing away. She nodded and murmured softly,

"Don't worry. I'll make sure that you three will be together… Forever."

A hand gently caressed her shoulder and with her gaze still transfixed on to the noble beast, she whispered almost inaudibly,

"It was my friend." Shanks hugged her tightly,

"I know."

With that, she felt tears fall out of her eyes and she turned around to cry in his broad chest.


	6. With ends come new beginnings

**Ch.6: With ends come new beginnings.**

"You know… I'm starting to miss you already, tiger."

Luffy sat nearby the clearing which she had turned into the burial grounds for the cats. Flowers were planted around the area as a tribute to their souls. She sat there, savoring the tranquility and beauty of the forest clearing, a bit longer before standing up and leaving the area forever.

And she didn't look back even once.

As she wandered aimlessly through the forest, she felt a presence near her. Immediately, the girl whipped around—only to have her sight obstructed by something big yet warm. She took the ratty old thing off and gazed at it intently,

"Your hat?"

"Awww, come on, it's not just any hat." Luffy raised a brow at the red-haired pirate captain and smiled,

"Let me guess, it's a straw hat." He crossed his arms, making a large X,

"Nope, it's my treasure!" Shanks laughed at her bewildered look, "This hat has been with me through many battles; it's very important to me."

She reevaluated the old thing, but this time in a new light and respect.

"Then why give it to me?" Once again, he laughed and swiped it out of her hands to put it back on the sea of messy red hair,

"I'm not! You just looked so lonely there that I thought that I should bring you back." She blinked and then loudly pouted,

"I was not lonely!"

"Yeah, you were!"

"No, I wasn't!"

"Yeah, you were!"

"No, I wasn't!"

And the two continued arguing on their way back to the Party Bar. Wide smiles and laughs decorated their faces. The village grew noticeably brighter with the return of their bright sun…

"So what did you do with the poachers' bodies?" His curiosity was nagging him; what did happen to their bodies? Luffy faltered before smirking mysteriously,

"Saa… Who knows?"

_In the Forest Clearing; Invisible to the World of the Living_

"Thanks, human… For putting me next to my young ones and restoring the clearing to its former glory…"

The tiger with one eye tenderly watched the two kittens playfully fighting each other and basked in the warmth of the sun. Once again, the forest was quiet and still.

_In an Area Close to Midway Forest Where Mountains of Trash Piled Up_

A young boy with blond hair and blue noble-like clothes ran through the piles of trash and hid. He peeked for any pursuers. Seeing none, he sighed in relief.

Now, without worries of his parents or their guards, he climbed a tall heap and inspected his new home. Sure, it was a bit smelly and dirty…

But smelly is okay! Dirty is okay! Anywhere was a lot better than that corrupted rotten constricting country! Finally, he was going to be free!

Well… That's if he didn't die…

He noted to himself as he saw corpses of people who looked like… Poachers…? They looked like they were mauled to death by some feline monster…


	7. Annoyances come with ignorance

**Ch.7: Annoyances come with ignorance.**

Shanks searched around the town, calling out for a certain girl's name. After another few minutes of searching, he stopped and scratched his head.

"That's weird… She's not in the forest, not in town… Where could she be?" Then, he paled as some disturbing thoughts filled his head and he panicked,

"Oh no! What if she got kidnapped or was in trouble or injured or fell off a cliff or—"

"You okay, captain?"

Benn sweated at his captain as he begins fearing for the girl's safety. Makino just happened to open the tavern and see the two pirates. She was about to call them in when she gasp in remembrance and hurried over to them,

"You two should start sailing away! Right now!" Benn cocked his head in confusion,

"Why?" Makino was already rushing them away,

"Any moment now Garp will be coming back! Yesterday, he sent Luffy to some dangerous place for what he calls 'training of love'."

Immediately, the pirates paled and quickly followed her advice and left. Just a little after they left, they saw the canine figurehead of a marine ship docking at the harbor. Garp's symbol…

"So she wasn't lying about Garp being her grandfather…" Shanks muttered under his breath. Benn nodded,

"Poor girl; being related to that guy…"

Off in the distance, Garp sneezed. Someone must be talking about him… Maybe his little princess was finally appreciating him~! He grinned and punched a hole in the wall next to tavern's easy-to-open-with-a-slight-push door and shouted,

"Makino! My little princess's grown so big and lovely~"

Makino resisted the sudden urge to smack him for the damage to her tavern and for constantly putting Luffy in danger. And amazingly, she managed to hold it in and smile,

"That's nice, but could you stop breaking my wall?" Garp pouted (which was not a pleasant sight to see on an old man who is supposed to be an important person),

"But it's cooler that way!" Makino glared viciously at him and he picked his nose, "Okay, fine… You guys, go fix it!"

"What? Fine, we'll fix it, but you have to help too! Geez, stop breaking walls…"

Thus, the marines and Garp spent a few minutes making the place new again and left as fast as they came. Makino sighed and collapsed into a nearby chair,

"Oh Oda, he's like a typhoon." The mayor walked in, slightly glancing at the patch near the door, and sat near Makino,

"Garp?" She tiredly nodded her head and repeated,

"Garp." He nodded in understanding and ordered his morning coffee,

"Makes me wonder what we should really watch out for: marines or pirates?"

"Yeah… And he wonders why Luffy doesn't like him." Both sighed once again. It was only morning yet the day already felt so long.

"Poor girl; being related to that guy…"

Garp sneezed twice. He wondered if he had a cold and called for a doctor. Same doctor wondered if idiots even caught colds.


	8. Bad things come in succession

**Ch.8: Bad things come in succession.**

A week later, Luffy was back in Fuusha Village and Garp was away back at Marine Headquarters. All known parties sighed from the damage caused and their fatigue from his visit catching up on them.

Of course, there was an identical patch of different wood on the other side of the tavern. Not that anyone expected him to stop his 'cool' entrances any time now or soon or maybe ever. Luffy was bandaged from head to toe, looking like a mummy that just went through the apocalypse. Makino and the mayor were already making preparations for his next visit. The Red Hair Pirates were partying and once in a while giving Luffy and the others curious glances.

But they knew better than to ask and make them remember about the hellish time they had with Garp.

After a while, Luffy began happily eating her salad and veggie dishes as if nothing had happened.

Soon the mayor left… But not after accidentally bumping into a very tall, scraggly man. The man scowled at him, but decided to let him go, being in a good mood. Which the mayor did, but only after glancing back at the man cautiously, sensing trouble. Judging by his clothes and the many men behind him, he was a mountain bandit and a dangerous one…

But no matter how dangerous the bandit can be, he was probably no match for Luffy and the Red Hair Pirates (Yes, he knew that they were the notoriously famous Yonkou despite being in Fuusha Village, the farthest place from the Grand Line).

With that, he left, trusting to let the matter play out by itself. Though then again, can he really trust Luffy and Shanks?

Great, why are bad things like girls going to the restroom? They just always have to move together in groups to do their dirty stuff. First, that oversized cat that Luffy liked died. Then, Garp visited after a year of disappearing. And now, it's this… Did he do something bad?

_Back in Party Bar_

"We're not here to cause trouble. We just wanna buy ten barrels of sake." The mountain bandit leader stepped forward; Makino calmly glanced at them,

"Oh… I'm so sorry, but we're out of sake." He growled and turned to the pirates sitting around, drinking,

"That's strange; what are the pirates drinking? Is it water?"

"It's sake. But that's all we have." Shanks offered him a bottle and Higuma coldly stared at him before grabbing the bottle and slamming it into his fa—

"Oi, bandit… Harm my friend or waste food in front of me and you die."

Luffy tightly gripped the bandit's arm; effectively cutting off the blood circulation in his arm and making him drop the bottle, which she caught in mid-air. She kept her frosty glare on the bandit, making him cringe, before letting him go. And as most cowards do when they meet someone stronger, they ran away after yelling,

"Y-y-you'll regret this!"


	9. A rule has at least one exception

**Ch.9: There is at least one exception to every rule.**

"Ahahahahahaha, captain, you just got saved by a girl!"

The whole crew laughed at the absurdity of the fact and how uncool their captain was. Though, admittedly, she was eerily scary when she glared at the bandit… She sat back down, eating a fruit,

"Ne, Shanks, why didn't you try stopping him? You're obviously a lot stronger than that bandit." Shanks grinned,

"Cuz that would be a fight not worth fighting~! And… Wait—" Shanks quickly ran out of his seat to an opened, empty chest. He panicked and searched all over the place before faintly remembering that Luffy was eating a fruit. Quickly, he turned to her, "Luffy! You weren't eating the fruit in the chest, were you?"

Luffy blinked before pointing to the ground, "The fruit's over there, Shanks."

He whipped his head around and saw that she was right. Sighing out of relief, he picked it up and locked it inside the chest again. He felt relaxed until…

"Besides, I wouldn't eat one of those things again. They taste really horrible!"

"…" All the pirates stopped partying and gawked at the girl. Shanks widened his eyes and shakily pointed at the chest containing the cursed fruit,

"You ate one before…?"

"Yup. When I was little, a wolf got me. I thought that I was going to die so I figured that I might as well have a last meal. And I ate one, but it tasted so bad that I beat up the wolf to get a better last meal."

Shanks and the others couldn't help but chuckle at her reason. Even Benn grinned a bit before he got to the point,

"So what power did you get?"

"Leviathan."

"Wha?"

"Oh, I'm a Zoan." Shanks's eyes excitedly sparkled at that,

"Can I see it? I never heard of a Leviathan before!" Luffy frowned,

"I can only do a hybrid form now since my zoan's really huge." Shanks nodded; many other pirates followed and watched attentively as Luffy gained wings and a fish like tail with small, soft, Alice-blue feathers decorating it. And in their opinion, she was beautiful…

Even without the zoan, Luffy was a really cute kid. Six years old and adorable. She had raven-black silky hair and obsidian eyes that shone with determination. Her skin was ivory and smooth; well, if you didn't count the small scar underneath her left eye. How she got those two stitches they did not know. And despite eating so much, she had a doll-like, slender figure. She was surely going to be a knock-out in the future.

Now with the partial transformation, she looked like a mermaid… The light feathers made her seem angelic and contrasted with her dark hair. But the wings made her seem devil-like with its bat resemblance… Wait…

What was the zoan form even supposed to look like? What were Leviathans?

Luffy seemed to enjoy their confusion as she added,

"Oh and I can swim."


	10. Fate acts with humor

**Ch.10: Fate acts with humor.**

There was shocked silence until Benn asked for all of them,

"You can swim? I thought that all Devil Fruit users couldn't swim…?" Luffy nodded,

"It's not that they can't swim; it's more like they are weak in water."

"?"

"My zoan form has a special oil that covers it so I can swim. I'm still weak to water and sea-stone when it directly touches me though."

"Oh, I get it. Oil repels water, right?"

"Yup~" Benn extinguished his cigarette and leaned forward,

"So does this work on other DF people?"

"Saa… Who knows? But why?"

"You see… There's this guy that keeps complaining that he used to be a great swimmer. Though I doubt it; I really want him to shut up." Shanks smirked as he realized who his first mate was talking about… (Hint: big red nose) Luffy cocked her head,

"Well, it's not like it's lotion or something. It's like a part of me."

"Ah, is that so?"

"Yah and it'll be troublesome if others could start swimming… That's like cheating." They laughed at the thought of various DF users trying to learn how to swim. Especially the old ones like Whitebeard and Akainu…

With the excitement from seeing her hybrid form over, they went back to partying and talking about random stuff and adventure again. During that time period, two children about nine years old ran in and spotted the chest. Thinking that it was filled with treasure, they stole it and immediately left before anyone noticed.

Well… Luffy noticed, but her narcolepsy took over and she fell asleep. Shanks may have noticed, too, but he was so drunk that he thought that he may have been seeing things. Benn was smoking casually while resting his eyes. Lucky was eating meat and dancing like there's no tomorrow. Yasopp told more and more stories.

Thus, the morning after, there was a bunch of screams that could be heard from the Red-Haired Pirates…

_At Night near Dadan's House_

"I wonder what's in here…" The strawberry-blond hair girl's eyes sparkled brightly,

"Treasure, treasure, and treasure? Maybe I can eat all those delicious pastries at the bakery~! I love strawberry shortcake!"

"Is that all you can think of, Ann? We need to save up to become pirates! And what pirates don't have a boat?"

"We can just steal a dinghy for that."

"A dinghy's not going to take us to the Grand Line!"

"Let's think about getting enough money later… Strawberry shortcake now!"

"You know, sometimes, I wonder if we're really related… Then, I remember that we're twins…"

"Admit it, Ace; you're thinking about food too~"

She poked her little brother and he picked the lock off. Slowly, they opened the chest to find a… Devil Fruit? Both of them grinned,

"We're rich! Yes! We're ri—"

And at that very moment, they both got a narcoleptic fit and fell asleep. Ann accidentally swallowed the fruit in her dreams,

"Nnngh, tastes so horrible… Need strawberry shortcake…"

* * *

><p>AN: Just a little note: Title changed and will probably stay like that for now on. Godai is the five elements, just to let you know.

And I'd like to note that Luffy's DF is a Zoan, not a Logia or Paramecia, so she CANNOT control water or anything like that. She only has her special animal trait that allows her to swim underwater... Seastone and water still weakens her when it touches her directly like any other DF user in canon. And she can not breathe underwater, but can hold her breath for up to 3 hours like a blue whale or dolphin does. But really, she is a Zoan so she has no control over nature just like the Zoan, Marco, has no control over fire according to Word of God (aka Oda). Plus, a DF user that controls water or is even immune to it is too invincible so just no water-controlling/immunity at all. And if you don't know what a Leviathan is, then I recommend Google.

Anyways, thanks for reading and reviewing~! Reviews really makes this otaku very happy! And flames really makes this otaku think and help her cook cookies~


	11. Expectations are nothing like reality

**Ch.11: Expectations are normally worse than the real deal, a lot worse.**

Luffy wandered around the forest; she still felt the effects from drinking with the pirates last night. How she got drunk; she doesn't know… Or at least she doesn't remember. Though it probably had to do with Shanks; everything about alcohol had to do with him…

Oh well, she felt sleepy, very sleepy…

Snore.

…

Some minutes later, some men were walking through the forest, heading for the small village up ahead. One of them muttered,

"Why the hell are we doing this? Boss couldn't even last for a few minutes and he expects us to kidnap her for him…" The other agreed,

"I know right… Thinks he's so tough, though he ran away from her that time…" The third one, a strong, buff man, glared at the two grunts, effectively shutting them up,

"You guys ran away too at that time so shut up. All we have to do is catch her when she's… off-guard?" The question-like ending made the two grunts tilt their head in confusion and look around,

"What's wrong?" The buff man pointed to the distance, where a little figure laid on the ground,

"Isn't that her?"

"Ah. It is… Wait."

They all looked at each other before putting on identical evil smirks. Quickly, they ran over, but stopped a few feet away,

"Oi, you go first."

"W-what? Why me?"

"Just go."

"No, she's friggin scary!"

The muscular man sighed in exasperation. Some mountain bandits they were… He picked up a rock by his side and chucked it near the girl. And though he'll never admit it, he purposely missed so that if she woke up, she wouldn't target him out of revenge.

She didn't budge an inch.

They sighed in relief and walked to her body. From the awkward position she was in, they wondered if she was dead.

Poke. Groan.

Okay, maybe she wasn't…

"Oi, why did you poke her? What if she woke up?"

"Chicken?"

"N-no, but it'd be easier to carry her while she's asleep!"

"Uh-huh."

Silently and slowly, they rock-paper-scissors to see who had the misfortune of carrying her back to base. Which was one of the grunts.

He whimpered at the thought, but obliged. The faster they left the better. Cautiously, he picked her up—just to be kicked in his family jewels and fall down with pain. The other bandits immediately checked her over and realized that she was just moving in her sleep. They sent their partner their condolences, but continued forcing him to carry the girl.

This time, nothing happened as she was swiftly carried through the forest and back at the base. It amazed and befuddled the men on how off-guard she could be. Not once did she wake up from being rough-handled and being carried a bunch of miles through the rustling forest.

But then again, it didn't matter since they got through the mission safe. They brought the girl to the boss.


	12. The soul is strong

**Ch.12: Bodies are easy to break. We're fragile, in that aspect… But the spirit is not so easy to destroy.**

"You brought the girl?" The leader asked; his cold eyes bore holes into their body. They gulped and the buff man replied by picking her off the grunt's back and throwing her on the ground in front of him. Despite the loud impact and blood streaming down her head, she didn't wake up. The leader raised a brow,

"I thought I told you to bring her alive."

"We did; she's a very heavy sleeper. We found her sleeping in the forest many miles away from here and she has yet to wake up."

"…I see… Then, go bring her to _that_ room."

…

Nngh… She felt cold, felt weak, felt vulnerable… Darkness shrouded her being and slowly picked at her soul…

Quickly, she jerked up from her sleep, but immediately fell down as she felt her energy get drained by something. She tilted her head at her restraints and paled as she recognized it as sea-stone.

Shit.

She examined her situation. Hands and feet were bound together with the cursed things. There was no iron bars or anything though; she was just trapped in a small, dark room. Occasionally, water dripped down from the cracks in the ceiling making soft noises. Other than that, she was fine and her body was still functioning well, meaning that she wasn't fed a drug but just captured…

Ah, whatever, Jii-chan would never do this, even for training. And if it wasn't Jii-chan, then all was fine.

And hopefully, Shanks and them would recover from their hangovers by now and search for her…

Nah, she couldn't rely on them. She doesn't even know where she was or what happened while she fell asleep. Though it couldn't be helped since sleeping heavily seemed to be inherited in her family. Almost as if the D. in her name stood for 'dreams' or 'drowsy' or some other 'D' word like that.

As she was caught in her thoughts, the door opened and seven people walked in. The tallest of them kicked her soundly in the gut and she smashed into the wall from the blow. Coughing up blood, she glared at her captors…

"Eh? Do I know you?" A vein popped on his head as he once again he kicked her. A loud crack was heard as some of her bones broke.

"I am Higuma, the leader of mountain bandits. We met yesterday."

"…" She searched through her memories and found it, "Ah, you were that stupid gorilla—"

This time, a hand grabbed her face and smashed her into the wall. Higuma eyed her coldly and she stared back without faltering. Feeling irritated again, he pounded her into the wall again, breaking the bricks and causing debris to smoke up the place. He, then, released her and she sighed,

"Yup, the stupid gorilla. You're only doing damage to yourself by breaking your own hideout, you know."


	13. Fight until the end

**Ch.13: Die with a smile. Fight until the end.**

All the underlings behind the red man gawked at her, wondering if she was stupid for adding fuel to the fire.

She wasn't. She just refused to grovel or submit to him. They'd need a whole army of elite soldiers before they can think that they broke her spirit.

Nah, even that wouldn't be enough…

Higuma trembled with fury and ordered his men to get her. A bunch of blows were beaten down upon her, but she didn't yelp or scream. They didn't hurt; Jii-chan's punches were a lot worse than this. And that was when she was out of the accursed sea-stone handcuffs. After a while, they backed down and Higuma picked her up by the face again,

"Do you understand your situation now, brat? I'll be nice to you; beg me to stop and I will let you go." Luffy gave him a go-eat-shit grin and spit blood into his face. Growling, he glared at her,

"Brat will never learn. Make her scream. I want to see her cower in fear as she dies." The bandits nodded and reached out for their knives, seeing that blunt attacks failed to faze her. She noticed and slightly cringed at the knives. Although she wielded twin daggers of her own, she didn't like the feeling of cold steel slicing through her skin. Maybe the reason why she chose daggers was because of that phobia…

The mountain bandit leader must have noticed her flinched since he smirked and stopped them,

"Huh, brat? Don't like blades too much? Afraid that your pretty skin would leave scars?" She snarled,

"Eat shit, stupid gorilla." He grinned, knowing that it was an empty taunt. Higuma motioned towards one of his subordinates and got a knife. Slowly, like a snake creeping on its prey, he walked to her. She watched him and bit her lips. The action seemed to encourage him even more since he violently stabbed the knife through both of her hands, causing her to silently scream.

"Well? Wanna take my offer now?" He examined another knife, running his finger down the silver blade. She coldly stared at him; despite her violent shivering from the pain, she managed to use her remaining determination to force him to hesitate. But he only paused for a few seconds before saying,

"I see… You are a stupid brat… Makes me want to cut you up." With that, he gazed at the shiny sharpness of the blade one last time before plunging it through her chest. She widened her eyes and felt blood profusely escaping her. Her vision was failing and everything grew noticeably darker.

Was she going to die? Immediately, she thought of the time with the wolf…

Ah… That's right… What was her last meal?

After some thinking, she remembered a fruit salad and smiled. Definitely a lot better than the Devil Fruit…

Before she felt the dark abyss take her, she heard a voice cry out,

"Luffy!"


	14. Something is always left behind

**Ch.14: There is always something left behind. **

She saw black everywhere. Darkness like nights with no moon. Just dark as hell… Maybe this was hell?

Hmmm… If this was hell, then hell really was a nightmare. There was nothing to do…

Just emptiness everywhere.

Ah. Luffy felt a warm presence. One that seemed to take away the shrouding darkness and gently light up the world with red…

Not blood red or any other dark red like that… More like his red… Oh.

She opened her eyes and squinted at the light. After a bit of adjusting, she turned to the sleeping figure next to her

So she wasn't dead, huh.

She lied down staring at the ceiling. But soon, she found that boring and resorted to examining Shanks as he was sleeping.

Honestly, it was weird; when the two were together, they were normally talking and bickering like father and daughter. Now, it was unearthly quiet and strangely peaceful…

Poke. No reaction.

Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke.

"STOP POKING ME!" Wave.

Shanks saw her wave and blankly stared at her. Luffy waved again. He regained his senses and tightly hugged her,

"You're awake! I was sooo worried when I saw you and you didn't wake up for three days!"

"…Three days? No way! I missed fifteen meals!"

"Oi. That's the first thing you say after you recover?" Luffy laughed and hugged him back tightly. After a while, they released and Luffy curiously asked,

"So what happened to the bandits? How'd you find me?" Shanks's eyes darkened with remnants of anger. But his face brightened up again as he summarized the events,

"Makino worriedly woke me up because you were missing. You left the weapons on the table and wasn't in town so I thought that you might in the forest. And as I searched the place, I heard your scream and ran there. All the bandits are sleeping currently…"

She nodded as she noted the underlying meaning: They died.

"Anyways, our doctor, Stein patched you up. How'd you get caught anyways; even without weapons, you're his granddaughter."

"Narcolepsy."

"Oh… Pfft." Shanks burst out with laughter and Luffy blushed while swiping at him with a bandaged paw. He dodged and patted her on the head,

"Well, nice to see that you're well… Or at least mentally."

"Nah, my injuries fully healed too. See?" She tugged at the bandages and pulled them off, revealing smooth skin. There was a white scar where the knife pierced through her chest though. Shanks stared at it intensely, but Luffy shrugged it off,

"It's only a scar."


	15. Boredom will haunt you

**Ch.15: Do exciting things sparingly or all the time. Or else boredom will haunt you.**

Boring.

That was the one and only word that she needed to use to describe today.

Boring.

Normally, she'd fine something to do—whether it be training, eating, watching beetles wrestle each other, swimming, talking to Shanks, listening to Yasopp's stories… Ah, the list could go on and on.

But today, the Red-Haired Pirates had left to go on another adventure. It was soaking wet outside due to a rainstorm and Makino wouldn't let her go out. And she already read all the books that were in Fuusha… Yes, she was bored enough to _read._ There was nothing to do and even if there was, then it didn't appeal to her. It was all so…

Boring.

Sighing, she laid, sprawled out on the floor. Even sleeping seemed boring. And that was like an accomplishment for a narcoleptic like her to not be able to fall asleep despite doing nothing.

And for once, her stomach was full. Bloated. Stuffed. Her bottomless monster of a stomach gave up too.

Today was going to be long.

She stared at the ceiling and counted the number of cracks on it. Just to pass the time. Why was it even so boring?

Maybe it was because all of the past month was packed with action. Shanks and them arrived in Fuusha. Benn and Yasopp taught her about guns. And he even gave her a smoke of his cigarette—which she had determined to be the most disgusting taste in her life, only second to the Devil Fruit. She couldn't even hope to describe that nasty taste that Devil Fruits gave her. Yasopp told her stories of adventure. Many of them. He was probably the best story-teller in the world. Lucky and her fought every once in a while, debating on whether meat or veggies taste better.

And after them, she fought with the boss tiger of Midway Forest. And dug big holes afterwards.

And after that, Jii-chan came and threw her into a bottomless ravine. With shackles and binds so that she couldn't use her Zoan to fly out. Or even use it at all. He even took away the twin daggers that she was fond of.

And it took her a whole week to get out. When she got out, however, she suspected that someone had smacked him upside the head. He was babbling about some nonsense like her appreciating him.

And after that were the bandits…

Oh, there was also the mysterious disappearance of that Devil Fruit Shanks brought. She heard that it was stolen around the time she was captured. They never did found it too…

Not that they cared though. The Red-Haired Pirates always laughed things like that off. Only booze was important in their life. Booze and the ocean, of course.

"Hey, Luffy! What are you doing lying there?" Her ears perked and she sat up,

"Shanks!"

Then, she noticed a semi-gloomy face on him.

* * *

><p>AN: Recap chapter since the arc's about to end... Oh whoops, I didn't spoil anything did I? ;p


	16. Real friends don't say goodbye

**Ch.16: Real friends don't say good-bye. They make promises of reunion.**

"So you guys are really leaving this time?"

"Yeah, we stayed here long enough. It's about time we move on… Are you upset?"

"…Of course… What kind of friend would I be if I wasn't upset?"

"Lu…"

"But it's okay. Because one day, I'll meet you guys… For sure."

"What about Garp?"

"Hmph, all kids will have to leave their homes one day in the future. He'll just have to accept that fact the day I decide to leave this place… So one day, we have to meet again. Got that, Shanks?" Shanks grinned and held his hands up in mock-submission. Luffy scowled a bit, feeling as if she was treated like a kid, but relaxed as something soft and warm covered her hair and eyes. She gently fingered the straw hat before pouting,

"I'm not lonely." With that, she held it away from her. Shanks laughed as he remembered that time in the forest,

"Of course you aren't." Luffy blinked at the unexpected answer and Shanks patted it back on her head,

"I'm just leaving this hat here. It's my treasure, you know? When you set sail as a free person, you definitely have to meet us and return it. And at that time when we meet again, I'll hold the biggest party that you have ever seen for you. Promise."

Her eyes widened at the mention of the party and she automatically asked, "With lots of salad?"

Shanks laughed and confirmed, "With lots of salad."

She hugged the red-hair captain, "Then, it's a promise… See ya later, Shanks!"

"Yeah."

With one last final pat on her head, he swiftly turned and headed towards his ship. She stared at his tall, straight back as he boarded the ship and sailed away into the distance.

Not once did he look back.

Once the ship disappeared, she turned away and ran off to train—

Or at least she was going to, but she caught a ship approaching them out of the corner of her eye. And it wasn't dragon-headed… More like dog…

The villagers at the harbor confirmed her dread by saying that one word… That one word that meant that she wasn't imagining things or dreaming:

"Garp."

Nah, of course, she wasn't dreaming… Just having a nightmare. Yup, that's what this was.

But the vice admiral really has good timing. He came right after his former rival's apprentice and now notorious pirate emperor left.

She sighed and mentally prepared herself for the incoming Fists of Love that she knew would be coming anytime soon. And she was right as Garp jumped off the ship and tried pounding her head. Not wanting to lose her brain cells, she dodged and tried evading the next barrage of punches…

With no such luck.

The next thing she knew was that her head resembled ice cream and that she was hearing that loud, maniac laughter of her grandfather's.

Training of Love #112: Start


	17. Silence makes everything more mature

**Ch.17: Silence makes everyone seems older and mature. Through silence, people can see a new side to things.**

"…Jii-chan?"

"Yeah?"

"…Where are we going?"

Luffy watched the trees pass by slowly as she sat on the old man's shoulder. They were still on Dawn Island, just going more and more inland. Which was weird since Garp normally took her to new islands and threw her in dangerous places… Well, that or just try some crazy idea. She remembered being tied to balloons.

And amazingly, her grandfather wasn't rough-handling her or spouting off nonsense about training or marines.

Garp continued walking. She shrugged; she was going to find out later anyways.

It was almost scary how peaceful the forest was. The tall trees stood still like soldiers in waiting. They filtered the bright light and cooled the hot sun. Little critters popped up every once in a while, but so far no big ones. The forest was just silent and peaceful… Even Jii-chan was.

Now that the man was quiet, he seemed more charismatic and more of the Vice Admiral and Marine Hero he was revered as. And she appreciated the nice change; in a way, the silence bonded the two more than their 'training of love' sessions ever did.

So the two calmly trekked through the forest. After a while, though, they started going up. Luffy raised a brow as she realized that it was Mt. Colbo, the home of many bandits. But she relaxed again since it wasn't like he was going to put a 'future marine' in the hands of mountain bandits… Right?

She figured out how wrong she was a few moments later.

Garp was loudly arguing with the bandits' boss… Dadan…? Apparently, this was going to be her new home…

Sigh, she didn't really like the idea. Especially after having to go through all that bandit fiasco last time. Finally, the fight ended with Garp using his trump card… Blackmail.

And with that, Garp left, but not after shouting,

"Make sure to turn my little princess into a great marine, Dadan!"

Marine? What bandit raises kids to be marines?

Luffy sighed again and heard someone sighed heart-fully near her. She looked up to see Dadan staring at her too.

Well, maybe they'll get along fine. She extended her hand towards the woman and smiled politely like Makino always told her to do for first impressions,

"Nice to meet you. I'm Monkey D. Luffy." Dadan blinked and grinned. It's not all the time where bandits get polite greetings. She shook the hand,

"Dadan. Your grandfather's an ass."

"That he is." With that, Luffy walked past her and inside the house, looking around. Unexpectedly, it was quite clean and unlike the image she had in her head. Maybe it was because the boss was a woman. Then, she opened one of the doors, heard a scream, and dodged a very swift kick. Her eyes came in contact with another. Obsidian black met azure blue.

Blink.

"Who are you?"


	18. First impressions are good, Looks better

**Ch.18: First impressions are good, but in the end, looks are all that really matters.**

They asked at the same time; voices sounding like angels. Except hers was more mature and beautiful. She lowered her leg and moved back to stare at Luffy. Luffy did the same.

She was tall and lean. Maybe a few years older than her. And she had wavy, strawberry-blond hair that semi-covered her blue eyes…

And she was in the middle of changing. Luffy scratched her cheek sheepishly and apologetically,

"Umm… Sorry?" Seeing that it was only a little girl, she awkwardly replied,

"Uh, it's oka—"

A freckled-face boy came in with a drop kick which Luffy instinctively dodged (due to many Garp surprise attacks) and the blond girl quickly threw him out and slammed the door,

"I'm friggin' changing here, Ace! And you shouldn't hit little girls!"

"Little girls? Who the hell is a little girl, Ann? There's only a gorilla, bunch of monkeys, handsome guy, and gorilla-in-training here! And why'd you scream?" Ann threw on a shirt and pants quickly and opened the door. She whacked Ace on the head; a vein popping out of her forehead,

"Who's a gorilla-in-training?"

"N-no one… Hey, who's that?" Ace pointed at Luffy; head swirling with confusion as to why a cute, innocent-looking girl would be in a monkey house. She grinned,

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy! I'll be staying with you guys for a while!"

"Oh… I'm Portgaz D. Ann; this is my younger brother, Ace… Wait. You're staying here?"

"Yeah, Jii-chan dropped me off just now!" The twins paled at the word,

"Jii-chan? Could he be…?"

"Yup! Garp. Don't worry; he left a while ago. Looks like we're all victims here." All nodded before they jumped at the realization that Dadan was behind them,

"Oi, Ann, the brat's gonna share rooms with you. Got that?"

"Yeah, sure. She's sooo cute~!" Ann ruffled Luffy's hair, amazed at how soft it was. Ace smirked,

"Not like a certain person we kno—" He quickly tilted his head back to dodge a punch,

"Shut up, Ace! Why can't you be cute like her!"

"Guys aren't supposed to be cute!" Luffy gazed at the boy,

"Really? You look cute to me…" Ace blushed at the compliment and looked away quickly. Ann giggled,

"Looks like someone found spring." Luffy looked up at the girl,

"Spring? But isn't it near the end of summer already?" Ann squealed as she saw the big eyes and glomped her,

"You're soooo cute! How old are you?"

"Six. You?"

"Nine. Same with him. I can't believe you're just three years younger than us! You're so small~" Ann began to obsess over Luffy, who in turn tuned out her words and looked around her room. It wasn't so bad, being a fellow girl's room already. And if worse came to worse, she could always go to Makino's. After all, she did memorize the way… Well, sort of.

And Ann and Ace seemed to be nice kids.

* * *

><p>AN: For those of you who don't remember, Ann was the name that Roger and Rogue was going to use if their kid was a girl. Thus, I felt like making the kids twins on a whim. So yeah, Ann and Ace are twins. And if you need an image, then just know that Ann looks like Rouge except that she is a kid and doesn't wear dresses.

And just to note, I do not pair people up unless they are in love in canon or I am really really really bored. I tend to think of manga people as real people and I do not pair up people in real life together or force my ideals on to them. So don't expect any romance or pairings.


	19. Dreams, dreams, and dreams

**Ch.19: Dreams, dreams, and dreams**

"So why are you two here? You don't look like Dadan or them!" The twins frowned,

"Apparently, our parents knew that _kuso-jiji_. When they died, he adopted us… Or at least he dropped us off with Dadan." A slight silence ensued and Ace looked over at Luffy,

"Hey, what's wro—?"

"Then, that means that we're foster siblings! That's sooo cool~"

Luffy grinned widely at the thought while Ann and Ace gazed at her, bewildered,

"?"

"Jii-chan's my real grandfather! If he adopted you guys, then we're siblings!" Cue Luffy's trademark laugh. The twins blinked, but smiled at the thought. They were siblings. That didn't sound bad; although they just met, it felt like they were with each other for years…

"Ne, Luffy, one day, we're going to set sail and freely travel around the world! We're going to be pirates! Do you want to come?" Ann dreamily looked towards the ocean as she talked. The idea of going on many adventures seeped in the air and soon, Ace and Luffy were gazing at the direction too…

Until she realized something. Immediately, Luffy patted all over herself searching for it.

Nononononono…

Quickly, she got up and ran towards Fuusha Village. Ace and Ann whipped their heads at her disappearing figure and followed after her, yelling worriedly,

"Oi, Lu! What's wrong?"

Luffy didn't answer, but instead continued forward. Finally after sprinting across the island nonstop, she reached the port and picked up the straw hat. Dusting it off, she roughly positioned it on her head and sighed with relief. She couldn't believe that she dropped and forgot about it when Garp arrived. Good thing it wasn't windy… Seeing that Luffy stopped, Ace asked,

"Lu, what's wrong?" Ann was nearby holding her sides; the strawberry shortcakes were probably getting to her. Luffy turned back with a grin,

"Nothing! I just forgot my hat~" Ace and Ann raised a brow as they noticed the battered, overly-large hat on her head,

"That ratty old thing?" She smiled wistfully. Their reactions filled her with nostalgia, memories of a red-haired pirate. It had only been just yesterday since he left too. She gently patted it down, covering her eyes, and echoed his words,

"No, it's my treasure. This hat has been with him through many battles; it's important to him. And now, it's important to me…" With that, she tilted the big straw hat back and revealed another grin,

"About that offer… Of course, I'll join!"

"Really? Then, we need to celebrate for our new member! Strawberry shortcake time!" Ann hugged Luffy while drooling at the thought of the delicious cakes. Ace sighed, already used to his sister's antics. He quickly lightened up though since their crew got larger, their dream more real…

"So do you guys have a boat?" Never mind, his face darkened again as he gloomily replied,

"No… Not even the money…" Ann guiltily looked away. Luffy laughed at their mood,

"Well, all pirates start off poor anyways~"

…

"Makino!"

Luffy ran through the tavern and hugged the bartender. Said person turned around with a surprised look at the girl,

"You came back fast; what'd Garp do this time?"

"Ah, He dropped me off with some of his friends on Mt. Colbo…" Her stomach growled loudly and Makino chuckled,

"I'll make some food for you then." Two more stomachs behind Luffy growled and Makino finally noticed the twins behind. They sheepishly rubbed their necks causing her to smile,

"And for you two darlings as well. Do you have any preferences?"

"Meat!" "Strawberry shortcake!"

"Okay. In the meantime, you can sit over here next to Luffy." They joined her at the table; Ace noticed the scrunched up face of the girl,

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing…" Ace frowned, sensing that there was obviously something wrong with her,

"No, really… What's wro—"

"Food's ready~!" Used to cooking fast for Luffy and a bunch of hungry pirates, Makino placed down the heaps of food on the table. Both of their eyes immediately sparkled at the food and they dug in. When Ann finished her cake (she wasn't a big eater like the other two; just a strawberry shortcake fanatic), she observed and felt that there was something missing from the scene.

Sure, it surprised her that Luffy could eat a lot despite being a little girl… But she was used to seeing lots of food being consumed at once (thanks to Ace). At least, she had manners though. But there was something else that was missing…

"Gochisousama! I love salad!"

"AH!" All turned to Ann, wondering what was with her. She ignored the faces, finally understanding why there was something off. Her plates were filled with greens while Ace had reds…

"Are you vegetarian, Lu?"

"Yup!" Luffy grinned before putting on a semi-serious face, "Salad is good for the body, you know~"

"You're vegetarian…" Ace blinked at her, not comprehending how she could stand not eating the tender, tasty, lovely deliciousness. Luffy nodded,

"Yup. Vegetarian." Ann giggled,

"So that's why you were like that. Sorry for my little brother's table manners." Luffy twitched,

"Nah, it's okay… I've seen worse…" _Garp._ Ace sheepishly scratched his cheek,

"Well, this is awkward." Ann worriedly gazed at Luffy,

"Wait, you're still going to join us, right?" Luffy blinked before grinning widely,

"Of course! We're siblings, right? No matter how different we may be, we'll always be together." With that, both twins sighed and grinned with her,

"Yup! Siblings forever!"

_Ahem._

The cough brought them back to the bar and they turned to Makino,

"Am I missing something here?"

"Ah, sorry, sorry! Ace, Ann, meet Makino. Makino, meet Ann and Ace. We're foster siblings~" Luffy grinned innocently and Makino raised a knowing brow,

"Garp?"

"Garp." She sighed; of course, anything could happen with that man. She couldn't even begin to understand why the man would adopt two kids when he couldn't even properly raise his own granddaughter? But whatever, she shook the thought out of her head and gently smiled at the two,

"Nice to meet you two, and take good care of Luffy. She can be a handful of trouble sometimes."

"Of course we will!"

…

After a few talks, the three of them walked out of the tavern. The sun was setting, sending soft red rays of light everywhere. With the light, the ocean glowed and dazzled brighter than before. They sat at the beach, admiring the beautiful view,

"So pretty… Wonder how many other things in the world there are to see…" Luffy remembered a certain story-teller,

"A lot… There are a lot of things just beyond that horizon. Not just dangerous training places, but actual places where people can just relax and enjoy~"

"But dangerous places are fun!" The girls turned to Ace with disbelief,

"So being tossed into bottomless ravines, steaming hot deserts, icy glaciers, and those other places Jii-chan finds is fun…?" Ace shivered as some horror-movie-like memories popped up, but he shook his head to eliminate them,

"You know what I mean! What pirates need is exciting adventures that make your adrenaline pump and your muscles all tense… That's true fun!"

"…Yeah, I guess…" Ace would have none of their slowness,

"And fighting like a hero to protect those important! And! And…" He trailed off, wondering about what's after. Luffy joined in,

"And the feeling of accomplishment, of victory, when we win… To fight together and win together and then party together—" Ann butt in,

"With strawberry cake! There'd be lots of food for all of us! We'd travel around, being free. No more talks about marines or anything!"

"We'll be able to look at the sunset after each hard day… On a different part of the ocean."

"Nothing will stop us. We'll keep going till we reach One Piece."

"Just free…"

Dreaming of the moment, they determinedly gazed at the ocean's sunset. With the last gleams of light disappearing, they marched back to Dadan's place.

Of course, after easily taking down a crocodile for the bandits to eat.

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry about that... School plagued me with a bunch of work and I got an OC stuck in my head... Sigh. But I promise to make the next chapter more fast-paced and include a battle somewhere when my heart finally finds the inspiration to continue.


End file.
